JP2008098714A - Wireless communication network connecting method and device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To widen a communicable area of radio LAN connection service by allowing an administrator himself or herself to install a wireless LAN base station at low cost by using an IP line. <P>SOLUTION: Provided are an authentication/charging server 3 which is connected to an IP network 1, and authenticates and charges a wireless terminal U according to a use quantity, and a wireless base station BS which connects the wireless terminal U to the IP network 1 for packet communication. The wireless base station BS when communicating with the wireless terminal U performs authentication processing for the server 3 to authenticate the wireless terminal U, connects the wireless terminal U to the IP network 1 to allow packet communication, measures a packet amount during the packet communication, and reports the measured amount to the server 3 to charge the wireless terminal U. Each wireless base station BS is provided routers for the charging side and administrator to ensure security. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a wireless communication network connection method and apparatus. Specifically, the administrator himself / herself uses the IP line of the administrator (owner of the radio base station) connected to a communication network (hereinafter referred to as IP network) based on the Internet protocol (IP). It is intended to provide a new wireless communication network connection method and apparatus that installs a wireless LAN base station that operates in conformity with the IEEE 802.11 standard, and that can expand the communication area of the wireless LAN connection service. is there. Here, IEEE is an abbreviation for Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

  FIG. 6 is an element configuration diagram showing a conventional example. Wireless base stations BSPA, BSPB and network service authentication server 3P are connected to IP network 1P via IP lines 6P, 7P, 9P via IP lines 6P, 7P, 9P, respectively. The radio base stations BSPA and BSPB have a function as a public wireless LAN (local information communication network) base station.

  In order to install such wireless base stations BSPA and BSPB having the functions of the network service authentication server 3P and the public wireless LAN base station, a public wireless LAN network connection service provider (hereinafter referred to as a network provider)・ We paid the installation fee for the service authentication server 3P and the radio base stations BSPA and BSPB.

  In addition, the network service authentication server 3P and the wireless base stations BSPA and BSPB secure the installation location in the facilities owned by the network provider or the facilities of the affiliated companies and store the IP lines 6P, 7P and 9P. It was necessary to wire and connect to the IP network 1P. That is, it is necessary to provide the portion of the equipment enclosed by the elliptic dotted line except the IP network 1P at the burden of the network provider.

Patent Document 1 discloses a solution problem of temporary or permanent shortage of base station resources (paragraph 0008) or excessive allocation (paragraph 0009) and handling of call volume fluctuation (paragraph 0010). An apparatus is disclosed that provides a price for a service of a radio base station provided by a person other than a person (hereinafter referred to as an administrator) (paragraphs 0011 to 0015). In the disclosed apparatus, a dedicated communication line is required between the mobile communication carrier or administrator-owned radio base station and the mobile communication carrier infrastructure device (FIGS. 2 to 9).
JP 2004-242176 A

  To install a wireless LAN base station, as explained with reference to FIG. 6 or Patent Document 1, there are many costs such as borrowing cost for installation location, installation cost for IP line, management cost, dedicated line installation cost and its maintenance cost. Since all of this becomes a burden on the network provider (mobile communication carrier) or the administrator, the network provider or the administrator is required to have financial power. For this reason, even if more radio base stations are installed to expand the communicable area, there is a problem that it is difficult to install because it requires a large amount of equipment cost. It is rare.

  In order to solve this problem, the user can install a wireless LAN base station at a low cost by using the IP line of the administrator who is also a network user, and can communicate with a secure wireless LAN connection service. It is hoped that the area can be expanded.

A network service authentication / billing server owned by a mobile carrier that authenticates wireless terminals and charges according to usage, connected to the IP network, which is a communication network based on the Internet protocol, and wireless terminals connected to the IP network And an administrator-owned radio base station for packet communication,
When a wireless base station communicates with a wireless terminal, an authentication process for receiving wireless terminal authentication to the network / service authentication / billing server is performed prior to that,
A wireless LAN router having a base station function for enabling packet communication by connecting a wireless terminal to an IP network thereafter, routing for maintaining confidentiality for general households, and a firewall for preventing outside intruders The connection process to function as
Perform packet amount measurement processing to measure the packet amount during packet communication,
By notifying the network / service authentication / billing server of the measured packet amount, a billing process is performed to bill the wireless terminal user,
Charger router processing and administrator local IP router processing to separate the network route to the network service authentication / billing server side and the network route to the administrator side to ensure security on the network route I was able to.

  According to the wireless communication network connection method and apparatus of the present invention, since the wireless base station has a function capable of performing identification authentication processing, connection processing, and billing processing to the network service authentication / billing server, the administrator Can be installed at a location that requires a wireless base station at low cost. The common use of the IP network eliminates the need for a dedicated line and can reduce maintenance costs.

  High security is ensured by two router processes for the mobile phone operator and the wireless base station owner, despite the fact that the IP network is shared and no dedicated line is required. did it. As a result, mobile communication operators, a plurality of managers, and an unspecified number of wireless terminals that are not acquainted with each other are prevented from illegally accessing each other's addresses. For example, it prevents the mobile communication carrier from entering the manager side, or the manager illegally accessing the other manager side and leaking personal information.

  A network service authentication / billing server owned by a mobile carrier that authenticates wireless terminals and charges according to usage, connected to the IP network, which is a communication network based on the Internet protocol, and wireless terminals connected to the IP network When a wireless base station communicates with a wireless terminal, prior to that, the wireless base station is identified with respect to the network service authentication / billing server. Packet amount measurement processing to measure the amount of packets during packet communication by performing identification / authentication processing to receive authentication, then connecting the wireless terminal to the IP network to enable packet communication The wireless terminal user is charged by notifying the measured packet volume to the network / service authentication / billing server. Billing processing for the network service authentication / billing server so that the network routing for the administrator and the network routing for the administrator are separated from the routing processing for the billing and the routing processing for the local administrator IP. did.

  As a result, simply connecting a wireless base station to the user's IP line allows the wireless terminal user's location to be a low-cost wireless LAN service area. High security can be assured by separating the subscriber side and the administrator side of the radio base station.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention. In the IP network 1, the wireless base stations BSA and BSB owned by the managers A and B and the network service authentication / billing server 3 owned by the mobile communication carrier are provided via the IP lines 6, 7, and 9, respectively. It is connected via IP lines 6, 7, and 9 such as ADSL, which is one of the digital transmission systems using. The radio base stations BSA and BSB have a function as a public wireless LAN (local information communication network) base station.

  The network service authentication / billing server 3 and the IP line 9 are facilities NI of a mobile communication provider that is a network provider. The radio base station BSA having a function as a public wireless LAN base station and the IP line 6 are facilities A of the administrator A. The wireless base station BSB and the IP line 7 having a function as a public wireless LAN base station are the facilities BI of the administrator B. The network service authentication / billing server 3 authenticates the wireless terminal U, which is a service subscriber, based on the notification from the wireless base station BS, and charges for the packet amount metering system.

  In addition to the conventional base function of the conventional base station BSP shown in FIG. 6, the wireless base station BS has a wireless LAN router function for general homes such as routing and firewall, and information amount for each user for billing. It also has a packet amount measurement function that measures

  FIG. 2 is an internal functional block diagram of the radio base station BS which is an important component of FIG. There are a wireless LAN interface (I / F) 11, a charging unit 13 including a user identification unit 14 and a charging router 15, a LAN interface (I / F) 21, an administrator local IP router 22, and a packet amount measurement. Part 31 and gateway 32 are included. An IP line 6 is connected to the gateway 32. Administrator information is transmitted to the LAN interface (I / F) 21 directly through the local line 26 or via the IP network 1 to transmit the administrator information, and the administrator uses the radio base station BS. And the radio base station BS side can be controlled as necessary.

  The router 15 for the accountant and the router 22 for the administrator local IP are given the network address of the IP network 1 in advance, and the wireless terminal U, the network service authentication / accounting server 3 and the local address are transmitted through the routers 15 and 22. It is routed (connected) to the local LAN terminal LL for managers connected to the line 26. The meaning of connecting and using the network of this IP network 1 for two networks, one for the accountant and the other for the administrator, will be described.

  In general, the biller and the administrator are not aware of each other, and the biller network is used by an unspecified number of users, so the network of the IP network 1 is charged to guarantee the mutual security of the biller and the administrator. It is divided into two networks for managers and managers. For example, a billing person connects to an administrator's local network and makes unauthorized access to the local LAN terminal LL on the administrator side, or conversely, the administrator A intrudes into another administrator B's terminal. Or illegally operating the network / service authentication / billing server 3 on the billing side to cause leakage of personal information or illegal monitoring.

  In the pay-per-use billing service for the used packet amount, for example, charging is not generated when communication is performed between the wireless terminals UA1 to UAn and the local LAN terminal LL which are users under the wireless base station BSA. For example, charging is incurred when communication is performed with the wireless terminals UB1 to UBm, which are users who are users of the wireless base station BSB.

  For example, when communication is performed between the wireless terminal UA and the wireless terminal UB, the charge A for the packet amount transmitted from the wireless terminal UA is transferred from the administrator A of the wireless base station BSA to the administrator B of the wireless base station BSB. It is the amount paid for. Similarly, the charge B for the amount of packets transmitted from the wireless terminal UB is an amount paid from the administrator B of the wireless base station BSB to the administrator A of the wireless base station BSA. The difference between billing A and B is actually paid. If the charges A and B are the same amount, no payment is generated.

  Information transmitted from the IP network 1 to the address of the administrator local IP router 22 by the biller identification information 28 is routed based on the destination information, and is transmitted to the wireless terminal via the wireless LAN interface (I / F) 11. It is transmitted to the local line 26 side via U (payee) or local LAN interface (I / F) 21. However, transmission / reception packets originating from or addressed to the administrator are excluded from the packet amount measurement and are not charged.

    When a packet originating from the wireless terminal UB (charged person) is transmitted from the IP network 1 to the address of the charging router 15 by the charging base identification information 28 of the wireless base station BSA, the packet is routed based on the destination information, The data is transmitted to the wireless terminal UA (payee) side via the wireless LAN interface 11. At the same time, the packet amount is measured by the packet amount measuring unit 31 and reported to the network service authentication / billing server 3 (biller) via the gateway 32.

  In the communication between the wireless terminals UA1 and UA2 which are affiliated with the wireless base station BSA (service area), the amount of packets is not measured and no charge is generated. In this case, it is limited to use in the wireless LAN network, and the IP network 1 is not used, and the usage fee for the IP network 1 is not paid to the mobile communication service provider (biller). Similarly, when the administrator A communicates with the radio terminal UA being served (service area) using the radio base station BSA, no charge is generated.

  Subscriber users (wireless terminal users) who are authorized to connect to the wireless base stations BSA and BSB are connected to the RADIUS authentication protocol (Remote Authentication Dial-in User Service: the access server to which the user is connected, and the server that handles user authentication. A user is authenticated and identified with a predetermined ID and password in accordance with the communication protocol exchanged between the two, according to RFC2138 and RFC2139).

  After the identification, if the administrator himself / herself becomes a user, there is no need for charging, so the user identification unit 14 passes it to the administrator local IP router 22 as no-charge identification information 25, and in the case of a user other than the administrator Is charged to the billing router 15 as billing identification information 24. After this identification, access to the IP network 1 becomes possible. The packet amount at this time is counted for each user of the radio base station BS by the packet amount measuring unit 31, and the packet amount is periodically transmitted to the network service authentication / billing server 3 via the gateway 32 and the IP line 6 and It is sent by the IP network 1 and charging for each user becomes possible.

  The radio base station BS also serves as an administrator's wireless LAN router. Here, the manager who manages the radio base station BSA is the owner of the radio base station BSA, and the manager who manages the radio base station BSB is the owner of the radio base station BSB.

  The administrator local IP router 22 has functions such as an IP filter and a firewall in order to protect the security of the wireless terminal U (user) in the wireless base station BS of the administrator (service area). It operates as a wireless LAN access point router and has a function of exchanging packets of local addresses.

The gateway 32 has a GW (Gate Way) function for the IP network 1. These functions are the same as those of the conventional radio base station BSP. The wireless LAN interface (I / F) 11 is for realizing the base function of the wireless LAN network, and is the same as the conventional wireless base station BSP.

  When the radio base station BS receives the radio wave from the wireless LAN interface (I / F) 11, the user identification unit 14 reads the identification information of the radio terminal U indicating who the emission source of the radio wave is. Router 15 and administrator local IP router 22. The billing router 15 identifies the billed person and passes the billing information to the packet amount measuring unit 31 as the billing person identification information 28. The packet amount measuring unit 31 measures the packet amount from the payee and periodically reports it to the network service authentication / billing server 3 via the gateway 32 and the IP line 6. The network service authentication / billing server 3 charges the payee.

  The administrator local IP router 22 is given a network address of the IP network 1 in advance, and passes the biller information to the packet amount measuring unit 31 as the biller identification information 28. When the partner communicating with the local line 26 side via the local LAN interface 21 is a wireless terminal U under the same wireless base station BS, the administrator local IP router 22 sends the local identification information 27 to the wireless LAN interface 11 as local identification information 27. Tell. A local LAN terminal LL for an administrator is connected to the local line 26 directly or via the IP network 1.

  The wireless base station BS differs from the conventional wireless base station BSP in that a charging unit 13 for identifying whether or not the user is to be charged and a packet amount measuring unit 31 for acquiring charging data are added, and the IP network 1 In order to ensure the security when using the network, the router 15 for the accountant and the router 22 for the administrator local IP are added and routed.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of user authentication operation in the radio base station BS of FIG. For example, when the user A1 makes a call from the wireless terminal UA1, the WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy: an encryption method used in IEEE802.11b of a wireless LAN, etc., where IEEE802.11b has a maximum transmission rate of 11 Mbit / s. Standard) and ESS-ID (Extended Service Set Identifier) to connect to the radio base station BSA. Here, SSID (Spread Spectrum ID: identification information using a spread code) may be used.

  The wireless base station BSA operating as a wireless LAN access point authenticates whether or not to communicate as an access point (S1). In this authentication process, when the wireless LAN network authentication ID and password from the wireless terminal UA1 are input, the wireless base station BSA uses the authentication ID and password input to the network / service authentication / billing server 3 using the RADIUS authentication protocol. If it is confirmed and authenticated, the process proceeds to confirmation of whether or not the user is to be connected (S2).

  When it is determined that the user should be connected and can communicate (S2Y), if it is the administrator of the radio base station BSA (S3Y), the local LAN on the local IP network side via the local line 26 Connect to the terminal LL (S4), measure the amount of communication packets connected at the packet amount measurement unit 31 via the administrator local IP router 22 (S7), and periodically check the packet amount for network service authentication / billing Report to the server 3 and the operation ends.

  If it is not an administrator of the radio base station BSA (S3N), it is connected to the IP network 1 which is a WAN line (Wide Area Network) (S5), and the packet quantity of communication connected in the packet quantity measuring unit 31 is determined. Measure (S7), periodically report the packet amount to the network / service authentication / billing server 3, and the operation ends. When it is authenticated in step S2 that the user is not connected and communication is not possible (S2N), the wireless LAN connection is rejected and the authentication operation is terminated (S6).

  4 and 5 are flowcharts showing the flow of operations in the configuration of FIG. For example, the relationship among the wireless terminal UA1, the wireless base station BSA, and the network service authentication / billing server 3 is shown. The wireless section between the wireless terminal UA1 and the wireless base station BSA is based on, for example, IEEE 802.11 (encryption scheme) of the wireless LAN. The wireless base station BSA and the network service authentication / billing server 3 are connected by an IP network 1.

  The wireless terminal UA1 is the property of the subscribing user who subscribes to the wireless LAN network service, and the wireless base station BSA is the property of the administrator and is under its management. The network service authentication / billing server 3 is the property of a wireless LAN network service provider that is a mobile communication carrier (biller).

  The wireless terminal UA1 wishes to connect to the wireless terminal UBm, for example, via the IP network 1, and requests the wireless base station BSA for authentication by wireless LAN encryption (S21, FIG. 4). The radio base station BSA receives the encryption authentication request and examines whether or not to authenticate (S22). If it is determined that authentication is to be performed, authentication permission is notified to the wireless terminal UA1 (S23). When the wireless terminal UA1 receives the authentication permission (S24), an ID and a password are input to receive authentication (RADIUS authentication) to the wireless LAN network (S25).

  Receiving the ID and password from the wireless terminal UA1, the wireless base station BSA transmits an authentication confirmation (user confirmation) request to the network service authentication / billing server 3 (S26). In response to this, the network service authentication / billing server 3 searches the database to confirm that the wireless terminal UA1 is already registered as a user (S27), permits authentication, and connects to the IP network 1. The server authentication to be permitted is notified to the radio base station BSA (S28).

  The wireless base station BSA that has received server authentication from the network service authentication / billing server 3 transmits a connection permission to the IP network 1 to the wireless terminal UA1 (S29). The wireless terminal UA1 receives permission to connect to the IP network 1 (S30), confirms that it is connected to the IP network 1 (S31, FIG. 5), and starts transmission / reception of IP packets (S32). By starting the transmission / reception, the radio base station BSA starts measuring the amount of packets to be transmitted / received (S33).

  While communication by transmission / reception of IP packets at the wireless terminal UA1 continues (S34), the wireless base station BSA measures the amount of transmitted / received packets (S35). When the communication is completed, the wireless terminal UA1 is logged out (S36), and the wireless base station BSA notifies the network service authentication / billing server 3 of the amount of transmitted / received packets (S37). Upon receiving the report, the network service authentication / billing server 3 charges the user of the wireless terminal UA1 according to the amount of transmitted / received packets and ends the operation (S38).

  4 and 5, the wireless terminal UA1 is used as the terminal. However, the same operation is performed even if it is replaced with another wireless terminal UA2 to UAn, UB1 to UBm, or the local LAN terminal LL. However, in the case of the local LAN terminal LL, the connection with the radio base station BSA is wired. Further, in the above, the same operation is performed even if the radio base station BSA is replaced with the radio base station BSB.

It is the element block diagram which showed the Example of the radio | wireless communication network connection apparatus of this invention. Example 1 FIG. 2 is an internal functional configuration diagram of a radio base station that is an important component of FIG. 1; 3 is a flowchart showing a flow of user authentication operation in the radio base station of FIG. 2. 2 is a flowchart showing a flow of operations in the configuration of FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation flow in the configuration of FIG. 1 together with FIG. It is the element block diagram which showed the prior art example.

Explanation of symbols

1,1P IP network
3 Network service authentication / billing server
3P network service authentication server
6, 6P, 7, 7P, 9, 9P IP line
11 Wireless LAN interface
13 Billing Department
14 User identification part
15 Biller router
21 Local LAN interface
22 Administrator local IP router
24 Billing identification information
25 No-charge identification information
26 Local line
27 Local identification information
28 Charger identification information
31 Packet quantity measurement unit
32 Gateway AI Manager A equipment BI Manager B equipment BSA, BSB, BSPA, BSPB Wireless base station LL Local LAN terminal NI, NIP Network provider equipment UA BSA affiliated wireless terminal UB BSB affiliated wireless terminal Wireless terminal under UPA BSPA Wireless terminal under UPB BSPB

Claims (10)

A network service authentication / billing server (3) owned by a biller that authenticates a wireless terminal (U) connected to the IP network (1), which is a communication network based on the Internet protocol, and charges according to the usage amount; There is a wireless base station (BS) owned by an administrator for connecting the wireless terminal (U) to the IP network (1) to perform packet communication,
When the wireless base station (BS) communicates with the wireless terminal (U), prior to that, the user of the wireless terminal (U) is sent to the network service authentication / billing server (3). Perform authentication process (14) to identify and receive authentication,
Thereafter, the wireless terminal (U) is connected to the IP network (1) to perform connection processing (11, 32) for enabling the packet communication,
Packet amount measurement processing (31) for measuring the packet amount during the packet communication,
A billing process (13) for allowing the user of the wireless terminal (U) to be billed by notifying the network service authentication / billing server (3) of the measured packet amount. ) Wireless communication network connection method. The wireless terminal (U) connected to the IP network (1), which is a communication network based on the Internet protocol, and the local LAN terminal (LL) for the administrator are authenticated, and the usage amount of the user other than the administrator is increased. A network service authentication / billing server (3) owned by a billing person who charges according to the wireless terminal (U) or the local LAN terminal (LL) connected to the IP network (1) for packet communication There is a wireless base station (BS) owned by the administrator that is wired to the local LAN terminal (LL),
When the wireless base station (BS) communicates with the wireless terminal (U) or the local LAN terminal (LL), the wireless base station (BS) communicates with the network service authentication / billing server (3) prior to that. An authentication process (14) for identifying the terminal (U) or the local LAN terminal (LL) and receiving authentication;
Thereafter, the wireless terminal (U) or the local LAN terminal (LL) is connected to the IP network (1) to perform connection processing (11, 32) to enable the packet communication,
Packet amount measurement processing (31) for measuring the packet amount during the packet communication,
A billing process for allowing the user of the wireless terminal (U) to be billed as a payee by notifying the measured packet amount to the network service authentication / billing server (3) (14, 15)
Wireless communication for performing routing processing (15, 22) for separating the accounting user's routing and the administrator's routing to separate the accounting route and the administrator's communication route to maintain security Network connection method. The billing process (14, 15)
A user identification process (14) for identifying whether the user is a payer,
The wireless communication network connection method according to claim 2, further comprising: a billing router process (15) for charging the billing person. In the packet amount measurement process (31),
In the packet communication of the administrator, the amount of packets is not measured.
The wireless communication network connection method according to claim 1 or 2. In the routing process (15, 22),
The billing routing includes a firewall to prevent intruders from outside,
3. The wireless communication network connection method according to claim 2. A network service authentication / billing server (3) owned by a biller that authenticates a wireless terminal (U) connected to the IP network (1), which is a communication network based on the Internet protocol, and charges according to the usage amount; There is a wireless base station (BS) owned by an administrator for connecting the wireless terminal (U) to the IP network (1) to perform packet communication,
The radio base station (BS)
Authentication for identifying the user of the wireless terminal (U) and receiving authentication from the network service authentication / billing server (3) prior to communication with the wireless terminal (U) Means (14);
Connection means (11, 32) for connecting the wireless terminal (U) to the IP network (1) after the authentication to enable the packet communication;
A packet amount measuring means (31) for measuring a packet amount during the packet communication;
A billing means (13) for charging the user of the wireless terminal (U) by notifying the network service authentication / billing server (3) of the measured packet amount. ) Including a wireless communication network connection device. The wireless terminal (U) connected to the IP network (1), which is a communication network based on the Internet protocol, and the local LAN terminal (LL) for the administrator are authenticated, and the usage amount of the user other than the administrator is increased. A network service authentication / billing server (3) owned by a billing person who charges according to the wireless terminal (U) or the local LAN terminal (LL) connected to the IP network (1) for packet communication There is a wireless base station (BS) owned by the administrator that is wired to the local LAN terminal (LL),
The radio base station (BS)
Prior to communication with the wireless terminal (U) or the local LAN terminal (LL), the wireless terminal (U) or the local LAN terminal is sent to the network service authentication / billing server (3). Authentication means (14) for identifying (LL) and receiving authentication;
Connection means (11, 32) for enabling the packet communication by connecting the wireless terminal (U) or the local LAN terminal (LL) to the IP network (1) after the authentication;
A packet amount measuring means (31) for measuring a packet amount during the packet communication;
Billing means for charging the user of the wireless terminal (U) as a payee by notifying the measured packet amount to the network service authentication / billing server (3) (14, 15) and
Routing means (15, 22) for separating the accounting user's routing and the administrator's routing for separating the accounting route and the administrator's communication route to maintain security Wireless network connection device. The billing means (14, 15)
User identification means (14) for identifying whether the user is a biller,
The wireless communication network connection device according to claim 7, further comprising billing router means (15) for charging the billing person. In the packet amount measuring means (31),
In the packet communication of the administrator, the amount of packets is not measured.
The wireless communication network connection device according to claim 6 or 7. In the routing means (15, 22),
The billing routing includes a firewall to prevent intruders from outside,
8. The wireless communication network connection device according to claim 7.